


One More Hour; How Soon Will I Meet My End?

by frozenCinders



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Consensual Violence, M/M, not that graphic imo but archive tagging just in case
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-01
Updated: 2020-06-01
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:22:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,145
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24495640
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/frozenCinders/pseuds/frozenCinders
Summary: Out of all the potential victims to Marik's other half's shadow games, Ryou might be the only fool to propose one.
Relationships: Bakura Ryou/Yami Marik
Comments: 1
Kudos: 26





	One More Hour; How Soon Will I Meet My End?

**Author's Note:**

> please note: this is based on the early manga's version of shadow games, not the anime's basic "if you lose you Go To The Shadow Realm" style.
> 
> also, as i said in the tags, the violence depicted and alluded to is not all that detailed, but if you don't want to hear ryou giving yami marik explicit permission to hurt him nor want to see him get stabbed, turn back.
> 
> please submit fic requests to frozencinders.tumblr.com! especially deathshipping!

Out of all the potential victims to Marik's other half's shadow games, Ryou might be the only fool to propose one.

"How about this? Any time I lose life points, you can come over here and stab me anywhere you like. Oh, except the eyes, those are off-limits," he adds as an afterthought.

"Oh, are they..?" Marik asks, his voice colored with amusement.

"Yes, but if I lose, you can gouge them out, if you'd like. The rest of me will be free game, too! You can even saw off my limbs as slowly as you want. You could cut my tongue out and wear it around your neck!"

Marik's eyes get a little darker and his smirk grows.

"I like the way you think." He pauses for a moment, closing his eyes and tilting his head in brief thought. "And if I lose? It's only fair to match the stakes, but you appear to be unarmed."

"I won't do anything to you during the duel, but if you lose... well, let's just say you won't like it."

Marik chuckles lightly.

"Death, then?" he assumes with a certain nonchalance.

"Oh, nothing so boring. I'm not about to try to kill you," Ryou assures, and Marik's expression calms into one of confusion. "I'd like to keep it a surprise, though, if you don't mind."

Marik smiles.

"I've never been so tempted to lose. But unfortunately for you, curiosity isn't enough."

Ryou never assumed it was.

The duel begins, and Ryou's deck almost seems to respond with respect to the risks, as if it wants to keep him safe. His starting hand and all the cards he draws are consistently ideal. The only problem is that Marik is no pushover, plus he already saw the spirit using Ryou's deck. He didn't bring more than five extra cards to change his deck with, and only swapped out one card because he wanted to include his favorite.

Oddly, Change of Heart delays putting itself in his hand, but Ryou manages just fine without it, for the moment. But unfortunately, even the best duelists end up taking damage in some way or another, and Ryou isn't able to avoid it forever.

He watches his life points scroll on the duel disk, his heart rate increasing as the number drops. It doesn't hit zero. He should look on the bright side.

Marik wastes no time in approaching to claim the prize he was promised.

"Oh, if you could do me a favor and maybe not nick my clothes," Ryou says while Marik is sizing him up. "It'll be easier to see if they aren't in the way, anyway."

Marik seems to agree.

"I've made my choice. Now kneel," Marik commands as he walks to stand beside him. When Ryou lowers himself, so does Marik.

He can't tell if he'd rather the next part happen quickly or if Marik is unintentionally showing him mercy by giving him time to brace for impact, what with how he slowly hikes Ryou's pant leg up with the tip of the Millennium Rod. He doesn't unsheathe it until Ryou's calf is exposed, and then he lets the blade rest against Ryou's skin for a second. It's just long enough for Ryou to take a breath before the Rod suddenly plunges into his leg.

Not screaming is the most difficult thing he's ever done. The pain is excruciating-- urgent and climbing higher and higher each millisecond. Ryou keeps his voice trapped in his throat, biting his lip so hard he can _almost_ feel it over the blossoming pain in his calf, and he finds himself unwillingly whispering "stop, stop, stop" in a desperate mantra, hands automatically fisting in Marik's shirt.

Beside him, Marik shivers with visible delight, but he was not given permission to twist the knife, and so he withdraws the Rod and stands within what must have been about ten seconds at most, but felt like seven years to Ryou.

"You can spend the remainder of this duel on your knees," Marik taunts as he walks back into position across from Ryou.

Ryou sure doesn't like being seen as weak.

"Hm?"

It feels physically impossible even as he's doing it, but Ryou manages to stand. His posture is pathetic and he's liable to crumple at any second, but he's standing. Marik seems to get... excited at that, his face brightening as he leans forward with a surprised smile.

"Ohhh, Ryou... I like you!" His voice is giddy and unsteady. For some reason, Ryou feels a little flustered by the declaration.

The next card Ryou draws is Change of Heart, and he sees the path to victory open up. Ryou stays on the defensive for a few turns, waiting on either the Spirit Board to finish or an opportunity to reveal itself. Because Ryou isn't destroying Marik's monsters, he gets a powerful torture fiend on the field. It's not Ra, but Change of Heart might not work on a god card anyway, and the fiend has more than enough attack points to betray Marik and finish him off.

The second the duel is over, Ryou finally loses the energy to stand. His eyes fixate on the pool of blood that's been spreading on the platform. He's never seen so much in person; not _real_ blood, anyway.

Marik is still quietly stunned. After a few moments, he resets his cards and starts walking towards Ryou. Oh, right, Ryou should put the cards in his graveyard back in his deck...

Just as he moves to try, Marik kneels in front of him. He stares at Ryou's hands as he moves his cards, and once he's done, his eyes are on Ryou's face.

"What's the surprise, then?" he asks.

Ryou lights up a bit at the reminder that the stab wound was very much for a good cause, especially now that it's about to pay off.

"Do whatever I want for an hour," Ryou states. Marik tilts his head.

"Will you be conscious for an hour?" His gaze lowers to Ryou's leg now.

"I'll power through it! ... And then I'll probably pass out as soon as time is up," Ryou admits with a sheepish smile not at all befitting the situation. "Do you agree to the terms?"

"I agreed before we started. Don't waste precious seconds of your hour by reiterating."

It's already begun, then.

"Well, first of all... you look strong, will you please carry me to my room? I need to wrap my leg, and there's a first-aid kit in there."

Marik takes a moment, but he scoops Ryou up with one arm around his back and the other under his knees. He stands slowly, but his walking pace is normal when he starts moving. Has Ryou been losing weight recently without noticing or is Marik just that strong? Shame that he sets that strength aside to settle everything with card games and shadow magic.

During the elevator ride, Marik stares quietly at Ryou, his expression uncharacteristically calm-- curious, maybe. As soon as the doors open, his focus is placed in front of him so he can see where he's walking, and Ryou misses the weight of his eyes.

They don't speak until Marik stops in front of Ryou's door. Ryou pulls out his ID card and opens it. He has to suppress a small laugh when he sees that the Ring has somehow fallen off of the nightstand. He supposes the spirit must have been upset that he left by himself.

"Set me down on the bed, please."

Ryou expects Marik to suddenly release him from as high over it as possible, but he gently sits Ryou on it. He turns to look around the room.

"Oh, it's in, um... it should be in that cabinet," he says, pointing at where he's pretty sure he saw the kit, "but it might be the one next to it."

His first guess was right, and Marik brings the kit to the bed. Ryou reaches for it, but Marik sets it too far from him. Instead, he opens it himself and starts sifting through the contents, examining almost everything curiously.

"Just need the antiseptic and gauze, please..." Ryou says to get his attention. He is currently bleeding on the sheets, after all.

Marik removes them from the kit and opens the packet of antiseptic wipes. He grabs Ryou's ankle and eyes the wound, the hand hovering over the open packet straying to fall on Ryou's knee instead. He leans in and licks at the stab wound, and Ryou hisses and writhes but doesn't stop him. Once he's had his fun, Marik pulls away and finally grabs the wipes, holding one directly on the wound for a moment before gently wiping at it.

"Agh, it really stings," Ryou can't help but complain. He thinks Marik might enjoy the vocalization of pain, anyway. The smile he gives him has Ryou's face heating up.

"Besides treating your wound, what else would you have me do?" Marik asks while he bandages Ryou's calf up. He sets it a little too tight, but Ryou doesn't mention it.

He wants to reply, but his face just gets a bit redder. In all honesty, he had two very specific reasons for starting that shadow game. Firstly, he wanted an excuse to play with Marik, violence and all. And secondly...

"Well, first of all, we can talk for a bit. I'm sure I can keep you entertained, but you're sort of being held against your will anyway..." Ryou jokes. He's disappointed with himself for chickening out-- he had something much more pressing to bring up, but he just can't do it.

Marik laughs, and it sounds genuine; its purpose not to taunt or intimidate, but just a natural reaction.

"So you risked your life for an hour of conversation with me? Not even?" Marik glances at the clock in the room. "Actually, how about this? The hour starts now. Use your time wisely."

Ryou immediately gets down to business: discussing topics that he just cannot talk about with anyone else. If he tried to bring up his favorite parasites and torture methods and medical malpractices with anyone else he knows, they would push him away and beg him to stop. Marik only leans in, absorbs the information with eager glee, and shares some of his own. Talking to someone who isn't squeamish about these things is a breath of fresh air, and Ryou manages to forget the pain in his leg that brought him here. He hopes it leaves a scar.

Forty minutes pass and Marik is showing Ryou some of his cards and explaining how the monsters, not their effects, actually work-- what torture methods they're based on and how they've been applied. Ryou feels a little bad that he mostly picks his monsters based on what looks creepy and grotesque rather than what they're based on.

Ryou continuously glances at the clock, his joy fading a little more with each minute that passes in an attempt to bring his time with Marik to an end. Marik notices and checks the time himself, seeing now that only five minutes remain. He frowns and stares up at the clock.

"Hmm... that didn't feel like an hour to me. Must be broken," he surmises, a smile picking up. "Better go for a bit longer."

Ryou matches his smile with one of his own and continues talking. Marik must have moved at some point, because he seems a little closer now. Ryou scoots closer too.

"-- then they heat the cage to agitate the rats, and they burrow into the victim's chest..."

When Ryou stops talking to look at the clock again, he finds that another half hour has passed. Marik grabs his face, forcing his attention to come running straight back to him.

"One more hour," he says. "Keep talking."

Marik's warm hand on Ryou's face finally encourages him to say what he should have said an hour and a half ago.

"You're still supposed to do whatever I ask, right?" he reminds him, bringing both hands up to Marik's to keep it in place.

"I'm sure you'll have me do something fun, so why not?"

As if knowing what Ryou is about to ask for, Marik leans close enough to touch their foreheads together.

"Say it," he whispers, daring Ryou to command him.

The words escape him. Instead, Ryou lunges up and kisses Marik. Marik holds him close and kisses back like he's been expecting this and Ryou feels stupid for being shy earlier.

He doesn't know how much time they waste kissing each other; doesn't bother checking the clock to find out.

"Can I get just one more hour?" Ryou asks, putting on a fake coy expression just because he knows it'll make Marik laugh.

"Alright, just one," Marik agrees, and they both know it's a lie.


End file.
